
Retired At 62 And Need Health Insurance – Health Insurance Options for Early Retirement Rob Stoll, CFP®, Financial Advisor & Treasurer / March 29, 2023
In recent years, there has been an increase in the number of workers choosing to retire before the age of 65. Rising stock market valuations and worker burnout are some of the factors behind this trend. Although the idea of early retirement appeals to many people, it can be more expensive than you think. Money is used not only to cover daily expenses but also to pay for health insurance and medical expenses. What are your early retirement health insurance options and how much might they cost?
Early retirement is an exciting prospect, but you should plan several years in advance before you want to retire early. With the exception of housing, food, and transportation, most of our monthly expenses are discretionary. This means we can spend more or less money and still get by. Here are the typical expenses you’ll need to save for early retirement:
These costs add up. The challenge is to set aside funds that you can withdraw as needed. Remember, you can’t start withdrawing funds from IRAs and 401(k)s until you’re 59-1/2. As a result, people retiring in their early to mid-50s face the challenge of covering living expenses through savings or investing in a brokerage account.
Therefore, it is important to understand the cost of health insurance. This can be one of your biggest early retirement expenses, and it’s something you don’t have to pay while you’re working and is covered by your employer’s insurance plan.
Most early retirees are solely responsible for health care and insurance costs. Understanding this cost is crucial to any early retirement plan.
The best and easiest way to quickly understand the potential health care costs in early retirement is to look at public market plans, also known as Obamacare. They are easily available and the most reasonable option for many people.
In this exercise, we will look at the total cost of an average health plan using the following assumptions:
First, you have your monthly premium. For this plan, you’ll pay $1,805 per month, or $21,660 per year. This expense will immediately become one of the largest monthly expenses behind your mortgage or rent payment. Most people who buy health insurance through their employer don’t realize the full cost of the insurance; it’s not cheap!
Secondly, insurance has a deductible. The plan has a deductible of $2,500 per person, for a total of $5,000. This means that most of the first health care expenses you incur each year must be paid by you before your coverage actually takes effect.
Third, each plan has an out-of-pocket limit for which you are responsible. They sell it to people as a “good thing” because there is a cap on how much they have to pay for health care each year. But the out-of-pocket maximums can be high, in this case $9,100 for an individual and $18,200 for a couple.
In the worst-case scenario, the total medical costs for a couple who take full advantage of the plan’s coverage will be substantial.
Add up the cost of early retirement each year until you qualify for Medicare, and it’s a big question to consider before you retire!
We just saw how expensive these plans are. But they are the easiest and most likely way for early retirees to get health insurance.
However, there is a way to significantly reduce the cost of these plans: premium tax credits. This tax credit is a government subsidy to help you pay for your insurance premiums. The amount of the subsidy depends on your annual income and can be quite low for early retirees.
For example, a couple making $50,000 a year would receive a $1,300 monthly premium tax credit, bringing their total monthly cost down from $1,800 a month to “only” $500 a month. That adds up to $15,600 in annual savings on health insurance premiums.
The problem with calculating premium tax credits to lower health insurance premiums is that the amount of the credit decreases as your income increases. One of the most effective financial planning strategies for early retirees is to use Roth conversions during low-income years. The potential tax savings from this strategy can be substantial.
However, when you use a Roth conversion strategy, you can generate income by converting funds from a traditional IRA to a Roth. Keep in mind that the higher your income, the less premium tax credits you receive.
Market plans, while one of the most logical options, must be selected and planned along with other aspects of retirement planning.
Under federal law, companies with more than 20 employees must provide continuous health coverage for 18 months after an employee resigns or retires. The law is called COBRA.
When most workers hear COBRA insurance, they automatically think it’s expensive. This is usually the case. You must pay the full monthly cost of the insurance provided by the company. This can easily exceed $2,000 per month.
However, since your company uses a group insurance plan, they can often negotiate a better plan for the price you pay. Deductibles and out-of-pocket maximums are also typically lower.
If you have money saved in a health savings account (HSA), there is a huge advantage to choosing a COBRA plan. You can pay your COBRA insurance premiums from your HSA. Marketplace plans cannot pay health insurance premiums into an HSA. So if you plan to retire early, putting money into an HSA may be a good way to pay for your COBRA premiums.
It seems strange to say “get a part-time job” when the goal of early retirement is to stop working! But time and time again we see customers leaving early after a busy day but not quite ready to hit the beach. They still want to stay active and keep their minds sharp.
Due to the labor shortage in the United States, more and more large companies are offering higher wages and benefits to part-time workers. For example, you can get a job at Costco that only works 24 hours a week and get excellent health insurance for you and your family.
The key here is to research which companies offer benefits to part-time workers. This may depend on what companies are available in your city.
If you are licensed in your field of work, be sure to check out the health insurance options these professional organizations may offer. Because these organizations have access to grou
p insurance, coverage can be less expensive and provide broader coverage than regular Marketplace plans.
Some employers provide continuing coverage to retired employees under a retiree health plan. The most common are retiree health plans negotiated through union contracts. Teachers and other government employees may have this option.
The problem with retiree health plans is that they are sometimes a scaled-down version of the health insurance offered to full-time employees. In the cases we saw with FDS, this was not a viable option for early retirees. But these plans already exist and can be an option.
If you’re considering retiring early, be sure to check out a health savings account (HSA) while you’re at work. Many people with HSAs contribute money into it each year but then use the funds to pay for ongoing medical expenses.
HSAs can be a powerful savings tool for retirement and early retirement. You can put contributions into an HSA for future use, just like your 401(k) or IRA. Then, if you have qualified medical expenses, you can withdraw funds from the HSA tax-free to pay for those expenses. Essentially, an HSA is a sum of money that you set aside specifically for health care expenses.
First, you can pay the premiums for your COBRA coverage into your HSA. This is a unique benefit that only applies to COBRA; you can’t use HSA savings to pay Marketplace premiums or other health insurance premiums. Although the cost of COBRA insurance (can be) high, if you’ve worked hard to save money in your HSA, you’ll be covered for those costs.
Second, you can pay for qualified medical expenses tax-free from your HSA. Doctor visits, out-of-pocket expenses, and many other common expenses qualify. HSA accounts become a significant source of these out-of-pocket expenses, which will be paid under the Marketplace plan. Given that many Marketplace plans have high deductibles and out-of-pocket caps, having a well-stocked HSA can limit the amount you have to withdraw from your daily savings to pay for these expenses.
When clients express an interest in retiring early, we do a lot of work to make sure they are ready. The last thing anyone wants to do is leave the rat race only to find themselves re-employed because the cost of retiring early is
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